Another brick in the wall

Trip Start Nov 09, 2007

Trip End Feb 03, 2008

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Flag of Croatia Dubrovnik, Croatia
Friday, December 14, 2007

We woke up to yet another lovely day but as part of our commitment to the art of slow travel Jess and I stayed in bed. Jess dozed while I finished the spy thriller that I had been reading. The girls were occupied with their puzzle. We didn't make it out until late morning and decided that it was a perfect day for a walk of the city walls.
Because by now it was lunchtime and we figured that the wall walk would take a couple of hours we decided to get some lunch first. Something quick and easy would be perfect so sandwiches it was. Sandwiches here are a bit different to what we are used to in Australia. They are actually more like large rolls with hot filling. Delicious but by Croatian standards fairly pricey. Nevertheless it was an ideal choice because we were underway in no time.
We bought our tickets to gain entry to the walls. You need to enter through a couple of identified places and then climb a lot of stairs until you reach the top

A view through the walls, Dubrovnik

. Entry was 50 kuna ($11) for adults and 20 kuna for kids. At the top the view is magnificent. You can see the clear blue water that surrounds the city walls, you can see how the old town is laid out and you can see out to distant islands. You can also see the patchwork roof tiles of many of the buildings of Dubrovnik Old Town, a result of the Serbian shelling and the inability to get replacement tiles of the same colour as the original.
The wall walk itself is fascinating, with different aspects of the town revealing themselves as you progress. There are stairs up and down along the way and interesting turrets to explore and watchtowers to investigate. The entire length of the walk is 5 kilometres and it took us more than 2 hours. By the time we reached the bottom again Jess and I were stuffed. The girls, on the other hand, still had energy for a play in the playground.
I enquired about the ferry to Hvar that we were due to take on Monday only to find that for some reason I had stuffed up the planning (I know! Incredible isn't it?) and the ferry from Dubrovnik to Hvar leaves on Wednesdays and Sundays only. This means a disappointing change of plan: a bus trip to Split and then a shorter ferry trip to Hvar. On the upside we can meet Jean and Cameron in Split now and travel to Hvar together.
Afternoon tea time had crept up on us and we chanced upon Caf� Festival, another recommended place to grab some coffee and cake

The walls and the sea, Dubrovnik

. We didn't need the cake but ordered a cappuccino. We have decided to order coffee with milk from now on. We have tried caf� latte and it is too milky and lukewarm. The cappuccino was about 60% froth, so coffee with milk it will be!
After our break we went into a travel agency and looked into doing a boat tour and a tour to Montenegro. It's not cheap to go to Montenegro, but everything I have read tells me that it is worth the trip so we booked in for tomorrow morning. Tomorrow's blog entry will tell you whether it was worthwhile!
We finished the day with a more organised shopping expedition - more organised in that we actually asked advice on where the shops are rather than just relying on my guesswork. Funnily enough it was a 5 minute bus ride to where the action is. We got Georgie some replacement pyjamas and I was very excited to get a cable that would allow me to connect my ipod to the sound system here. Finally I can listen to my music again.
We had dinner at home - leftover pizza and other snacks that we had accumulated. It was really nice to be able to relax and have a quiet meal in. A bit more puzzle from the girls and I typed up my blog entry listening to music. Jess read up for our trip to Montenegro and dozed on the couch.